Automatic fire-extinguishing apparatus.



E. R. BRODTON. AUTOMAHC FARE EXHNGUISHING APPARATUS.

APPucAnoN man MAY 2a, 1914. 1,299,548. Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

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vE. R. BRODTON. y AUTOMATIC FIRE EXTINGUISHING APPARATUS.

APPLLCATTQN FILED. MAY 23. '1914.

1,299,548. Patented Apr. 8,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 @yummy/' 31mm ufo/c EDWARD R. BRODTON, OF WASHINGTON,vDISTRIOT COLUIVIBIA, ASSIGNOR, BY IVIESNE` ASSIGNMENTS, TOSYPHO-CI-IE-IVIICAL SPRINKLER CORPORATION, 0F NEW YORK,

N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC FIRE-EXTINGUISI-IING APPARATUS.

Application led May 23, 19174. Sera11lTo. 840,586.

To all vwhom t may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD R. BRODTON, ofWashington, District of Columbia, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Automatic Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus, and do herebydeclare that the fol-y lowing is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof. l y

' My inventionrelates to fire extinguishing apparatus of the type inwhich the extinguishing fluid, whether a chemical or water, isautomatically discharged upon the fire by the opening of sprinkler headsapplied to the pipes of the system, or apparatus when a certainpredetermined temperature exists, and the object of my invention is toprovide such an apparatus of high efficiency, when set-in operation,which will be certain to operate under the conditions intended andwhichwill not accidentally operate, and to these ends my inventionconsists in the fire extinguishing apparatus constructed substantiallyas hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the form in which I have embodied my invention, a fire extinguishingfluid is used which is contained in a tank from which pipes run to thevarious parts ofthe structure to be protected, and such fluid inthepipes is under an initial pressure, and an expelling, or dischargingpressure is supplied by a gas generated, as by a mixture of sulfuricacid and bicarbonate of soda, in another tank, this mixture beingautomatically eected, and in the accompanying drawings I illustrate suchan embodiment of my invention in which drawings- Figure 1 is a side viewwith parts broken away with enough of such an apparatus to illustratethe same;

Fig. 1a is adetail view of the automatic. signal device for indicatinglowering of pressure:

Fig. 2 is a detail view in section on a larger scale showing the devicesof the mixing tank for automatically generating the desired pressure;

Fig. 3 a detail view of the check valve mechanism which controls thepipe connection between the two tanks;

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Fatented Apr. 8, 1919.

.Fig 4 isa detail View illustrating a different construction of theapparatus in regard to the connections between the two tanks;

Fig.V 5 is a detail view of one form of sulfurie acid bottle openingdevice;

Y Fig. 6 is a detail view in side elevation of the acid bottle stopper;

Fig. l2' is fa detail view in section of the compensating device to takecare of the liquid contents Vof, the pipe under changes of temperatureaffecting the pipes, tank, etc.

YIeferring'to the drawings, 10 indicates thetank, or holder for thefire-extinguishing fluid which may be any desired chemical, Vfrom thebottom of which runs a pipe 11 that leads through the building havingsuch branches 12 to the different compartments, orrooms thereof, `as maybe desired, these branches being provided with sprinklerheads 13.Leading into the top of the tank l() is a pipe14, whichenters the bot'rtom of kan air dome 15, preferably of glassf because of its nonporosity,and rendering visiblelits interiorwhich is partially filled with thefire-extinguishing fluid. A valved pipe 16 leads from a force pumpV 17to the pipe 14, a pressure gage 18 being provided to show the pressureproduced by the-pump inthe tank 10 and the pipe connections leadingtherefrom, the initial pressure in the system being thus produced.

In pipe 14 there is a check valve 19 for holding the pressure in thetank, and in the pipe leading therefrom. Said check valve is preferablyconstructed and arranged, as shownxin Fig. 3 of the drawing, whichillustrates a checkvalve arrangement hereinafter more fully described,which is provided to prevent back pressure from the tank 10. Connectedwith the pipe 14 fat a point be-y tween the check valve 19 and the airdome 15, is a signal operatin device 20 which acts upon the reduction opressure in the air dome 15, and gives warning of such reduction ofpressure therein.k A similar signal device 22 and bell 23 are associatedwith pipe 14, so that upon the reduction of pressure in the tank 10 andthe pipes leading therefrom, the bell will be sounded and therebyexistence of a fire causing the operation of the system will be madeknown. As shown clearly in Fig. 1a, said signal device comprises adiaphragm 62,

, which upon one side is exposed to pressure A pipe 24 extends from thetop of theV tank and connects with a pipe 241 leading through the top ofthe pressure generating tank 25, and a float valve 240 controls thepassage from the tank into the pipe 241. In the pipe 24 is a check valve26 which prevents back pressure from the tank 10 and which, of course,opens under the excess of pressure from the gas generated in the-tank25. The check valve 26V (and similarly the valve 19) is in a goose neck27 which enables the provision of a volume of oil 28-to surround thevalve, a stratum of water 29 being interposed between the body ofoil andthe ire extinguishing fluid consisting of a chemical supplied from thetank 10, the stratum of water being necessary to prevent the minglingormixlng of the oil and the chemical which does not mix with the water,nor does the water,.of course, mix with the oil. The well known lireextinguisher containing carbon tetra -chlorid is such a chemical as Ihave in contemplation.

Hence, the check valve is always in a body of oil and ismaintained in acondition for instant operation when the conditions in the use'of theapparatus require that the check valve shall open.

I/Vithin the pressure-generating tank 25, is suspended' a bottle, orcontainer 30 for sulfuric acid, said bottle having to one side of its'center of gravity a pivotal support that consists of diametricallyopposite inverted hooks 31, which, respectively, engage hooks 32 in thelower end of bars 33 depending from the top of the tank 25. Thediametric'ally opposite position of the hooks 31 is indicated in Fig. 1,but the scale of the drawingis too small to indicate their form, andtheir shape is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The lower ends of the invertedhooks 31 rest in the bottom of the supporting hooks 32, so that when thebottle is turned it rocks upon the bearings thus provided between'thetwo sets of hooks, and the inverted hooks 31 by their turning movingwith the 'bottle are carried sidewise outward through the open vsidesofl the hook 32, and the bottle falling the inverted hooks 31 will bedisengaged from the hooks 32 and the bottle .precipitated iny the sodasolution with Vthe lowerend of a vertical rod, or stem 36 which passesthrough the top, or cover37 of the tank 25, and above the latterl isconnected to one end of a lever 38, which at its other end carriesaweight 39. Connected to the lever is a vertical rod that extends upwardand has itshooked upper endadapted to engage a latch bolti 41, and whenso engaged with the latchbolt the lever is held in 'a position inwhichthe bottle is closedV i by the stopper 34, while, when the latch bolt 41is withdrawn from the hooked end of the lever-supportingrod 40, thelevervr will fall and thus liftthe stopper 34 from the bottle, openingthelatter and freeing/it so that. it may revolve from the forceofgravityv and be precipitated into the tank, thus 'causing the mixture ofthe sulfuric acid and the'soda solution for the generation of thepressure within the tank 25. The descent of the weighted part of thelever 38 is limited by a vertical bar 42 having a hooked lower endadapted to `catch the ,del scending lever, dotted lines inFigr 1showing` this position of the parts, while, when it is desired to havethe weighted portion of the lever to descend further it is lifted out ofengagement with the hook of the supporting bar 42, this position alsobeing shown in'dotted lines in Fig.A 1, and being desirable when accessto the r'tank 25 through the top is desired. The lever 38 is pivoted toSome convenient point, such for example, as shown best in Figs. 1 and 2,to a pivot supported from a contiguous pipe.- In Fig. 5, another meansofpivoting the lever 38 is shown. l

The latch bolt`41 is connected to a diaphragm device 43 having a springtendency to move the latch'bolt 41'in the. direction to vorder to makethe movement ofthe 'latch bolt 41. positive and certain, I connect with1t a weighted lever-45. .Swhichhas appinion46-v that meshes with a rack47 on the latch bolt, the lever45 normally leaning from, or being out ofa vertical position sothat it is always exerting a downward tendency,which is in the direction to move the bolt 41 to release the lever 38that controlsthe mixing of the two chemicals for the generation oflpressure in the tank 25. I

In order to avoid the use of a stuffing box and to secure a tighterjoint thanpacking would aord where a stem 36 passes through the cover ofthe pressure tank 25, I attach the stem 36 to a diaphragm 46 in achamber47 that is screwed to the cover 37, the diaphragm 46 allowing by itsvibration enough movement for the lifting of the stopper 34 by theaction of the lever 38.

Supplementing the use of a chemical iire extinguisher, I provide means.for using water taken from a suitable source, asl for example the citysupply, for this purpose, leading therefrom a pipe 48 to the bottomofthe pressure tank 25. Thus water may enter the tank 25 and passtherefrom through the pipe 241 leading from the tank 25. VTo avoid thepassage of water through the chemical holding tank 10, the branch 44which connects the pipes 11 and 24 may be used, athree-way valve 50beingprovided at the junction of the pipe 11 and thepipe 44, and a three-wayvalve 51 being provided at the junction of the pipe 24 and the pipe 44,and both valves having crank handles that are connected by a pitman 52to Vwhich is connected a common-operating handle 53. The passage ofwater through the vpi-pe 48 is controlled by a cock 54 which is adaptedto be opened by a weighted lever 55- that is normally held in theposition to keep the cock 54 closed by a hook-rod latch-bolt connectionoperated by av diaphragm in av casing similar' to that for the lever'38.A stop cock 57 is provided at the junction of the pipes 241 and 49 so asto enable the pipe49 to be opened or closed to the'passage of liquidthrough it. VVhe-n it is closed and at the same time water is' admittedthrough the pipe 48 to the tank 25, the air in the latter (which willthen contain no soda solution) is compressed and thus ejecting pressurefor thc lire extinguishing chemical in the tank 10 is providedindependently of the mixture of the sulfuric acid and thersoda solution.Y

' The stop cock 57 is a three-way valve Whichso controls the flowthrough the pipes 241 and 49 that when gas is passing from the tank 25into the pipe 241 there is no passage through the pipe 49, and when thestop cock or valve 57 is placed in position to open passage through thepipe 49, which is the condition when it is-desired to discharge the sodasolution on to the fire therev can be no flow from the tank 254 intothe'pipe 241;

pipe 24 through the branch 44 to the main supply pipev 11. When water isto be sup.- plied .to the ire, the float valve 240 is re-v moved, orrendered inactive so that water will pass from the tank 25 through thepipe 241 in which case, of course, the three-way Y,

cock 57 is turned to .out off the passage through the pipe 49, whileallowing passage from the tank 25 into the pipe 241, the water beingpassed preferably throughthe branch or by-pass 44without passing throughthe tank 10. f

Liquids are practically incompressible. The tanks and pipes, however,are affected by vchanges in temperature so that by shrinkage the spacevfor the liquid is reduced,

while Vthe quantity of liquid remains Ythe same. To prevent thiscondition bursting the tanks, or pipes, I provide,;as in the pipes 12,at .suitable points, expansion chambers 58 having flexible walls thatyield `under a certainv predetermined maximumV pressure and resume theirnormal condition upon the lowering of the pressurel from that maximum."f

:Preferably a. diaphragm operated alarm 59 is connected -with the pipes12 so that whenfa sprinkler head goes oli' on account of a fire theyalarm will be automatically sounded. To limit this action .to thevparticular room, -or section of the building involved, I run thesprinkler head `pipes 12 in dif-v ferent directions from the supply pipe11 and 'in eachfpipe 12 at one side of the supply pipe 11'I place -acheckvalve() which pre vents the` reduction of pressurein one' pipe 12from affecting another pipe 12 whereno sprinkler head is blown ofi". j.Y

It is convenient to attach a hose 61 to the supply pipe 11 so that theextinguishing fluid may be applied directly to an outbreak offire atlocalizedpoints. Y p Instead of the arrangement of the lever 38, thediaphragm 43 and the connections between thelever and the bottle stopper34 which appears in Fig.A 1, I may use thatappearing in Fig. 4, where adiaphragm. in casing 430 corresponding to the diaphragm 43 is connecteddirectly to the lever 381, so that the latch bolt 41 and the weightedlever ioo 45,' are dispensed with, the lever 381 being connected: to.the stopper stem-36, `as in the construction shown in Fig. 1.

By the construction shown in Fig. 5, the check valve 26may bediscardedand in place thereof a stop cock 260 .used to which the 35 member on therod.

' f Weighted end ofv the' lever 380, `vvhenit is f stem' 83 so that whenthe latter is moved in thedirection to cause the operation of thebell'the target 7 9 will be thrown into indicating position. Thus, if noone should happen to 'be present at the* time the bell is sounded, uponhis return to the apparatus at this point, the position of the targetwould indicate whatv had happened.v This target is especially useful ingiving notice of leakage. v My use of diaphragms isof great value andimportance because I thereby render the apparatus sensitive and certainto act, because there are'no sliding'parts which are aptto-"sti cktogetherand thus-fail to act at the critical time.

- Surrounding'the stem of the stopper 34 is a coil spring 7 5y whichacts to press the stopper upon the mouth of the bottle, a looseconnection being provided between the stopper and its stem to Vpermitslight movement of the stopper. vThis loose connection-is formed by apin 76 passing diametrically through the stemand through verticallyelongated openings or slots in the stopper 34. The upperei'idof thespring reacts against a The mercury seal for the sulfuric acidbottleor'tank effects the hermetic sealing of the bottle so that'thestrength of the acid is not impaired since-no fumes can pass the seal.

To simplify the form of the apparatus, the fire extinguishing fluid neednot be contained in a holder, or receptacle in the form of a ta'nk, butthe system of piping may contain enough, in which case a tank, such astank 10, may be discarded. This and other changesV may be made, so thatit is 'to be understood tha-tI do not limit myself only to the detailsof construction which I have shown in thedrawings and described as oneembodiment of my invention.

y-I-Ia-ving thus described my invention what I claim isi l 11 In a fire`extin, i;uis`hing system, thecombination offa source of supply ofanextinguishing fluid, `a discharge pipe leading therefrom that has anoutlet, the contents of said pipe consisting of saiduid being kept underarv pressurel tending to cause the efflux thereof from thepipe, means tonormally holdthe'pipefoutlet closed against such efflux", apairof tanks,or holders for separately "holdinghthe chemicals, which when broughtsvtogether generate` a pressure-producing gas, one of said holders beingcontained- Within the other-andhaving a nor-v mally closed dischargeorifice, apivotal support for-said inner holder, a 'stopper for said.orifice' acting when' in: the orifice to prevent .the turning of theholder, an elef ment-,connected with the stopper adapted to 'remove thesame from the orifice to uncover the Latter. and to leave the :holderhaving the stopper free to' turn, and means normally holding saidelement from movement actuated when the vpressure in the discharge pipeis reduced by the opening of its outlet.

2. A Afire extinguishing system comprising a pair of tanks or holdersfor separately ment of stopper and lever,rmeans to move 1 the lever inthe direction to lift .the stopper from the orifice, andl automatic,heat-operated means to control the Voperation of said lever movingmeans.

I 3. A fire extinguishing system,comprising a tank for a chemicalextinguisher, a. heatoperable outlet, a pipe to the latter from saidtank, means for the generation of pressure including a tank, a pipeconnecting the two tanks," a valvedY by-pass about said chemicalextinguisher tank connecting the two pipes, and a pipe from a source ofsupply of extinguisher leading into the tankV of the pressure-generatingmeans.

,A fire extinguishing system, comprisinga tank for a chemicalextinguisher, a heat-operable outlet, a pipe to the latter from saidtank, means for the generation of pressure including a tank, a pipeconnecting the two tanks, a vvalved by-pass about said chemicalextinguisher tank connecting the two pipes, and a pipe from a sourceofsupply of extinguisher leading into the tank of the pressure-generatingmeans, and means normally preventing iouv through said last named pipeacting to open the same when said outlet opens.

5. A lire extinguishing apparatus, comprising in combination inner andouter tanks, a pivotal support for the inner tank, and mean-sAcomprising separable members loosely mounting the inner tank upon saidpivotal support to one side of the center of gravity whereby when sa-idinner tank turns upon its pivotal sup-port it disengages therefrom. Y

6. A fire extinguishing apparatus, comprising lin combination inner andouter tanks, a'pivotal support for the inner tan-k,

and means comprising; interengag'ing sepa- -In testimony that I claimthe foregoing rable hooks loosely mounting the inner tank I havehereunto set my hand. upon said pivotal support to one side of EDWARD R.BRODTON. the center of gravity whereby When said Witnesses:

5 inner tank turns upon its pivotal support it CHAS. J. WILLIAMS,dsengages therefrom. JAMES H. MARR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

